Effects of Expressive Writing in Persons with HIV/AIDS

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

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Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this proposal is to examine the psychological, behavioral, physiological, and immunological effects of an expressive writing task with persons with HIV/AIDS. For the past 15 years, dozens of well-controlled experimental studies have demonstrated the psychological and physical health benefits of an expressive writing task first developed and extensively investigated by the social psychologist, James Pennebaker. Using Pennebaker?s paradigm, individuals are asked to write about their thoughts and feelings in regard to a significant traumatic event in their lives. Compared to individuals instructed to write on trivial or superficial topics, those writing about emotional reactions to traumatic events have significantly better psychological, behavioral, physiological, and immunological outcomes. The number and length of writing sessions does not appear to make much difference, but there is some evidence that there may be benefits to spreading out the sessions over time. To date, most of the subjects studied with this protocol have been college students, but there is increasing evidence that this brief protocol might serve as a highly cost-effective intervention for persons with chronic or acute health conditions. A series of pilot studies varying the topic written about (HIV/AIDS-related traumas; non-HIV/AIDS-related traumas; superficial topics; HIV/AIDS-related positive futures) and the length of time between writing sessions (one day vs. one week) will determine the most efficacious writing tasks to use, the optimal spacing of the intervention, and which individual difference measures (such as emotional intelligence, emotional expressive style, and/or dispositional optimism) moderate the mental and physical health effects of expressive writing in persons with HIV/AIDS.